Annual Trikathon

 

   

   

                

What a fantastic turnout for our Trikathon and picnic tea, helped by the warm sunny evening. The children and parents were enthusiastic participants. Opportunities to get together with famlies/whanau are a valuable way to develop and maintain Relationships/Nga Hongonga and etablish a sense of Mana Whenua/Belonging. And it is good for children to see adults having fun too!

An eggscellent morning.

Brownie has gone clucky, Ashleigh went to the Taylors and collected some fertile eggs. At Kohtahitanga time we discussed how Brownie has persevered had managed her impulsivity, then we read a story about a sitting hen/ hei hei, and not getting off the nest, (except to have a drink,a peck of wheat and to go to the toilet). 21 days to wait, perfect for easter,  it is a long time for for a hen to sit and even longer for children to wait.

An hour after the eggs had been placed under Brownie, Baxter, Murphey and James were looking in the viewing window to see if the "babies had been born", "James said "oh she's so cute",  Tena koe mo to awhi, thank you for your help. We will enjoy marking the days off on the calendar.

Horsing around in the morning and the afternoon.

Sometimes simple things can be the catalyst that lead to other activities and interactions developing. This morrning a group of children enjoyed using basic props- the 'horse' a wand, crown, and sword to support them as the characters in "there was a Princess Long Ago". This old and to many, boring,song seems to appeal children. We know that repetition is beneficial in helping to develop reading skills through knowledge and familiarity around sound/phonics, pattern and rhyme. Turn taking, listening for cues and following the 'rules' are also important for everyone to be able to participate and enjoy the game. Holding a sword and cutting down trees, then holding a princess by the hand is incredibly empowering, just as being part of a large group is.

This afternoon Isaac,Grace and Alice noticed the horse had a 'wound' on its neck. So together we decided to fix it.

Out came the sewing box, we talked about how a real horse might have a cut seen to by a vet, and using local anaesthetic to stop it hurting as much, because we didn't have any, Alice suggested that we could hold the horse and give it a cuddle then it might not hurt as much. He pai koe ki te whakaaro pena/that's good thinking.

Once the sewing box was out, there were more excitig possibilities. Sewing and necklaces, but again the horse took centre stage, the children were problem solving, trying to remove the saddle, working together sharing the spanners, communicating,and thinking flexibly.

That's one way to hold it still, by the nostrils.

You can sit backwards and join in with jump jam, and you can even have  a drink of water on horse back.Tu meke! Awesome.

Tug of War

Today as the children played with the rope that was connected to the slide, to pull each other up and down the slide Heather had an idea!

"Lets play tug of war" 

While Heather was getting the rope down, Ashleigh grouped all the children to explain the game, she asked the children if they new what tug of war was and after a few interesting answers they got it right

"It's where someone pulls the rope from one end and someone else pulls from the other end"

And thats exactly what the children did! 

We grouped the children into what we thought were even teams and then we started 

" 3 ...... 2......... 1.......... PULL" and with a lot of energy, smiles and laughter the children pulled until one team had pulled the other team over the middle line! 

The children quickly learnt that if there was more children on one side then that side would win, we played over and over again with lots of laughter and mahi tahi, working together to try and beat the other team.

While having all this fun the children were learning numeracy, through counting the number of children in each team, using there large motor skills as they pulled against the force of the other children, but most of all we were excited to see them running from all over the playground to help the children closest to the rope! Mahi tahi working together to achieve a common goal, and having heaps of fun doing it!

Problem Solving to help a Friend, Mahi tahi, working together.

Yesterday Ashleigh and Heather noticed James up on a box, calling out for help from the teachers, but we were encouraging him to do some problem solving to see if he could get down. Portia took it apon herself to problem solve to help James climb down. 

"Get down from there" George called out to James.

"I know, but I don't know how i'm getting up to help" Portia answered to George as she tried to climb up the window to help James out.

"I'm going to have a turn" Will said walking over to have a turn climbing up the window.

"Okay then get up and get James down from there" Portia said to Will 

"I think its a bit slippery for me to get up there" Will said after climbing up to have a look at the top surface James was standing on

"But how will I get up there to get him down.... Jaaaamesssss, just get down here right down the window" Portia said

"I've got a good idea, what about if we get a ladder and put the steps just right here" an idea Portia shared with Will. That’s good thinking, he pai koe ki te whakaaro pena.

"I'll go get Jed" Portia said and ran off to find him to help.

It wasn't long before Portia returned with Jed, who had ropes in his hands to help and work with Porti to get James down from the top of the white box. Together they discussed more plans, most suggested by Jed were some that Portia had already suggested to James, Will and George!

It wasnt long before James had managed to follow Jed from the top of the box to successfully get back onto the ground. 

The children did a fantastic job working together to help a friend in need.

We are problem solvers,ngā tamariki kaipororaru whakatika

 

Term 1 Coffee Session

Every term the Home and Kindergarten host a coffee session in the afternoon  with the aim for  new and old  parents to come along and hae a chat.
They often invite a guest speaker in realtion to an interest at  the time and this term personnel from English as  a Second language are going to share the resources they offer. Additionally,  we have our own parents who provide support in the community will be attending too.

NOW all we need  is you to come and enjoy your afternoon.

The coffee  session is on Tuesday 18th March at  1.30pm

Remember tomorrow in the morning the Hearing and Vision checks are taking place at Kindergarten. So if you signed the permission form then your child will have the check.

Ka kite

Playing in Creative Ways

This morning Cormack was completing a puzzle and as he placed each puzzle piece in its correct position he would use his body and the chairs beside him to dramatise the action of each vehicle. 

Cormack was thinking in a creative and innovative way as he explored and displayed the different movements of machinery through body movements.

Tau kē nei - This is neat!